Stolen Away
by TardisOwner
Summary: For a twenty-nine-year-old bachelor and ex-manslayer, returning to the nest is a VERY bad idea... Same story as before, so don't freak on me! KK fluff in places, much more crazyness and some cannon characters! ON HAITUS!
1. Rain

*A/N - If you can't tell, this is a brand new story about Kenshin. Sorry, but I had to rewrite the old one it was soooo bad. Hopefully you'll like this one better! Enjoy! **I do not own Kenshin. If you recognise it, I didn't make it.**__~Tardis*

_Rain. It's something that washes even the toughest stains away with time... even if those stains are made of blood. I never really believed this, until now..._

"Ryuu! Otou! You won't _believe_ it!" a very obnoxious voice came from behind the door to our old shack. I was sitting in front of the fire drinking sake. _Too bad it wasn't a woman's voice_, I thought. _No, it just had to be Shou's._ I stood up wearily, trying not to trip over my father who was sleeping next to me.

"Shou, I'm coming," I replied as I went over to the door. I opened in onto a man in the rain. He wasn't very tall and had pitch black hair that we shared. It fell in his face and was tied at the top of his head, almost as if he were some young samurai or something. His indigo eyes held a fire I hadn't seen in a long time.

"Ohay-" I began, but I was shoved aside and practically run over by the man, who proceeded in flinging water all over me.

"Otou! Wake up! I found him!" Shou shouted as he went over to my father who was long past awake now. He gave Shou a reproachful look.

"Shou, must you be so loud? You're yelling hurts my poor old ears," my father lamented. Shou settled down some. He sat dutifully in front of my father. I walked over to them angrily.

"Was it necessary to run me over, Shou?" I asked. He raised his shoulders and smiled innocently as a sweatdrop rolled down the side of his face. I raised my fist and hit him on the top of the head.

"Itai! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his head. I rolled my eyes and sat beside him.

"Now who was it that you found?" I asked as I got comfortable. My father leaned into Shou with interest.

Shou paused, no longer in a hurry to spill the beans. "I was talking to some travelers earlier-"

"Yeah, I can't believe that either," I cut in. My father couldn't hold back a snicker.

"Urusai, Ryuu!" Shou replied with his nose all wrinkled in distaste. "Anyway, the travelers were telling a story about a grave site they had seen on their way. It had a ton of graves, and they were apparently all dug at the same time!"

I cleaned the earwax from my ear. "Shou, that's not really that impressive."

Shou cut a glare at me. "_Anyway_," he continued, "they said the graves were a bunch of slave traders... and I found him."

"'Him'? Who's him?" I asked. I felt my heart get cold when I pieced together who he was talking about.

_"Shinta"_

1. Rain

"Ne, Kenshin?" a soft voice called from behind me. I turned around to see the speaker, Kaoru. She had her hands stretching her kimono down and her soft blue eyes looked a little worried.

"Hai Kaoru-dono?" I replied. She looked down at the grass beneath her zori.

"Ano... do you think it was okay to let everyone go ahead of us?" she asked. I smiled softly.

"I'm sure it was," I replied. "After all, Yahiko is very responsible, that he is." I turned back around on the task at hand, not wanting to make things awkward.

We were on our way back to Tokyo after an impulsive trip to Kyoto. Hiko-sensei had suggested we take a rather out-of-the-way trail that was void of people. This 'trail' proved to be rather tricky to navigate and was full of tall grasses and low branches. Although, a place without people seemed like a nice change of pace after our visit with the Aoi-ya.

When our party woke up today, however, Yahiko and Misao wanted to hurry on back to Tokyo using the crowded East Sea Road. Naturally, Aoshi didn't want Misao and Yahiko going alone, so he decided to accompany them, leaving myself and Kaoru alone. Kaoru wanted quiet as much as I did, so she decided to come with me on the old and somewhat abandoned trail we currently were exploring.

It was a very hot day. The sun was beating down on my back as I beat down the tall grasses for Kaoru. This part of our journey had been mostly a silent one, except for the occasional comment. I was lost in thought for most of the trip. So was Kaoru.

To be quite honest, the silence between us was growing like a rift. Kaoru had been almost... cold to me since before we left. I knew I was the reason for it, and not some other affliction. _I may have to call the whole thing off, _I thought.

A distant sound woke me from my daze. I looked up at the sky to see that the world was no longer bright and sunny. _A storm..._

"Kaoru-dono," I called softly behind me. I heard a halt in her steps. I turned around to face her. She looked a little anxious and was once again tugging at her kimono.

"It's going to rain, that it is," I said. She nodded.

"You don't think we would run across an inn or something before it comes, do you?" she asked. I shook my head.

"Perhaps there's a large thicket of trees up ahead," I offered. Kaoru smiled weakly. I turned back around and began pressing onward at a much faster pace.

The storm did come. We had made it about ten minutes further when I felt the first drops landing on my head. Not long after that, we heard the sounds of not-so-distant thunder. Worry crossed Kaoru's face. I continued to press onwards.

Finally, we found a sufficient shelter. There was a very large tree to the side of the trail, behind a few shoulder-high bushes. We darted under the large boughs just before the rain began to pour.

Lightning began streaking across the sky and the dark clouds were moving quickly. The wind picked up as well. I knew that even though this was a flash storm, it would be a while before it relented. I sat down at the base of the mighty trunk of the tree. I looked up to see Kaoru's eyes flickering between the sky and a dry spot a few feet from where I sat. She must have decided the tree was safer.

Kaoru sat next to me and hugged her knees. She looked broodingly at the bush hiding path we deserted and her lips began a pout. Even the pink ribbon in her hair seemed to dull with her sudden melancholy.

"Ne, Kenshin?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the trail.

"Hai?"

She paused. "No, nothing," she said solemnly. She was very depressed. I didn't quite know if the rain was to blame or if I had something to do with it. I decided this was not the time to dodge the situation.

"It doesn't look like 'nothing'," I replied as I laid the sakabatou down off my shoulder onto the ground beside me. Kaoru turned and looked at me. Her eyes were fathomless.

She was silent for a moment before she turned away, pink dusting her cheeks. "It's really nothing, Kenshin," she said, her voice muffled.

I didn't really want to make the situation worse, but I had to say something.

"Kaoru-dono? Is something wrong?" I asked. She didn't move. Thunder clapped loudly from above and she shuddered.

"Kenshin... why did you...?" she trailed off. I knew what she was asking, but I was unsure of the answer. An embarrassed silence passed between us.

A sudden sound to my right alerted me to the presence of another person. I tensed. Kaoru noticed.

"Kenshin?" she asked. I held my hand out, beckoning her to be still and quiet. She complied.

We waited for a few seconds before I heard the person keep moving farther away from us. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign yet. I decided to investigate. I grabbed the sakabatou and stood up quietly. Making sure the person didn't hear me, I cautiously followed the sound to another group of thickets. I peered through the branches to see a man's retreating back. I followed his form to the direction he was heading, but saw nothing but thickets.

I walked back over to Kaoru. She looked at me with a multitude of questions in her eyes but I just simply nodded and sat back down in my original spot. I had just about settled in when I heard a sudden shout.

"Yo, Ryuu! Hayaku!" It came from where the man was headed. I looked over to Kaoru and she seemed to be just as interested as I was. In silent agreement, we stood up and prepared to follow the sound.

We muscled past the bushes and shrubs until we found a small, secondary path. The man must have followed it, so we did as well. In a matter of seconds, we were looking upon a small clearing. But, that was not what was so noteworthy about the scene. Inside the clearing were twenty or so wooden crosses and three large stones.

I couldn't believe my eyes. My blood ran cold and I took a step backwards. _This is..._

"Kenshin?" Kaoru whispered. I felt sudden warmth from my shoulder. I turned my eyes from the clearing to her face. She was slightly unsure, but her eyes contained nothing but warmth. "Is something wrong?"

I felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of my face, but I shook my head. I didn't need to be sheltered. I looked back at the clearing.

In the center, in front of the three stones, were three men. One of them was greying and wore simple farmer's clothes. In his hand was a small bucket overflowing with flowers. The other two were dressed similarly to myself and had identical, pitch-black hair. They were all stooped in front of the stones.

Their conversation drifted to Kaoru and I. "There isn't an inscription," one of the dark-haired men pointed out.

"Of course there isn't," the other replied, "didn't they say this was an anonymous grave?"

The first shushed the second and the old man tried to relieve the tension but was rather unsuccessful.

I felt Kaoru slip her arm around mine. "Come on, Kenshin," she said in a hushed tone. "Let's see if they know where we can find shelter from the rain."

I turned my eyes once again to her blue ones. They showed a confidence I could never understand, but I agreed to coming, despite my guardedness. I allowed her to pull me in the direction of the men until we were only about ten yards from them.

The man on the right, the second one to speak, turned around and his blue eyes immediately connected with Kaoru's. He was tall and looked very much like a samurai.

"We have company," he announced. The other two turned to look at us. However, when I saw into the old man's eyes, I immediately recognised him and he me.

Shock went through me like never before. I would have gladly faced another Saitou or Shishio before this...

"So, what do we have here?" the second man asked. I turned my gaze towards him, and realized his identity as well. He, however, did not.

"Is that..." the first man began as I met his eyes as well, which were the exact same shade as my own. "...Shinta?"

*A/N - Haha! Love me! XD I know I'm mean, but you'll live, ne? Now, REVIEW!


	2. Author's Note

Hey guys! So, Stolen Away is being rewritten. Never fear though, it's just going to be better, not very different. If you still like the old story and would like me to preserve it, please just give me a pm and I will send the old version to you. Thanks!

~Tardis


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